There was not an empty seat in the Wells Fargo Sports Complex Wednesday night when the Alaska men's basketball team came to town to play Alaska Anchorage.
The crowd—721 people strong—kept the noise level up and worked hard to remain a factor in the Nanooks (8-17, 5-13 GNAC) 118-82 loss to the Seawolves (21-8, 13-5 GNAC).
The Seawolves 118 points is a season high allowed by the Nanooks and represents the second game that they've surrendered over 100 points this season.
It couldn't have come at a worse time, as the Nanooks needed a win to keep playoff hopes alive. At the moment, they sit tied with Montana State Billings in the win column for the eighth playoff spot, but MSUB wins the tiebreaker on the strength of the common opponents its beaten and plays one more Thursday night with Western Washington.
Jarrett Miller had a standout game for the Nanooks, recording a season-high 27 points off the bench. He saw a major jump in playing time with 35 minutes on the floor.
Brett Barkman recorded a double-double with 10 points and 11 rebounds.
The Seawolves jumped to their first double-digit lead at 15:16 in the first half at 20-10. That lead would fluctuate throughout the half but reached as high as 16 points.
Parrish West led the Nanooks with 16 points in the half, shooting 5-for-8 from the field and a perfect 6-for-6 from the free throw line.
The Nanooks headed to halftime down 58-45 and came out chasing a hot shooting Seawolves squad. They were down by 30 points by the 15:19 mark at 75-45 and frustration quickly built from there.
Alaska Anchorage's key to success was its control of the perimeter. They were able to sink 13 three-pointers on 24 chances.
They also used time at the free throw line to add another 29 points on 38 shots.
Kyle Smith took a hard hit guarding in the lane at 17:33 and was called for a foul. One minute later, West was called for a charge on offense.
All together, the Nanooks committed 15 personal fouls in the second half—many out of frustration. Both Barkman and Miller fouled out with Barkman's coming on a flagrant foul.
West was held to just one point in the half, shooting 0-for-4 from the field and 1-for-2 from the line. He finished with 17 points, seven rebounds and a team-high six assists.
He entered the game the top scorer in both the Great Northwest Athletic Conference and all of NCAA Division II at 27.7 points per game. That average will drop, but not by enough to drop him out of the leader's spot.
This game represents just the fourth in which West was not the team's top scorer. Miller led the team three times, with the first two of those games coming as a starter early on this season. This was his second game scoring twenty or more.
With the loss, the Nanooks season is officially over. They finished with five conference wins, which is an improvement over last season's four.
With a 95-82 win over Simon Fraser Feb. 10, the Nanooks sat in good position to qualify for the playoffs, but they were done in by a five-game losing streak to close the season.
